


Pit A Pat, Pit A Cat

by junyangi



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: M/M, Witchcraft AU, cat familiar jun, mentions of religious beings, more of seventeen to be added, there's animal death but it's not really detailed or bad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-23 00:22:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13178373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junyangi/pseuds/junyangi
Summary: Joshua didn't expect much when he moved to South Korea. Unfortunately, his friends are having a fun time making him question many things. Especially when he has a cute cat-human sidekick now.





	Pit A Pat, Pit A Cat

**Author's Note:**

> OKAY SO huge thank you to the chips aka ez and ra for helping me out in this au, another huge thank you to the house of jun gc for making juncat a thing, i've written this part of the fic for the past 6 hours and i'm dead tired so if there's any grammar or spelling mistakes it's because i've been writing this since ass o' clock and have no patience for beta-ing right now. (side note: i fuckin suck at titles)

It’s humid. That’s the first thing that Joshua thinks as he wakes up; he remembers he’s not in Los Angeles. It’s been three weeks since Joshua’s moved into this quaint little town in South Korea, but there’s always something off about his mornings, afternoons, evenings, and late nights. He never bothered to bring up about his curious gut feeling to his family; they’re busy enough when his mother’s sick. Joshua supposes it’s alright since nothing bad happened as he settled in the little town. He’ll just have to deal with feeling a little blue every now and then when his bedroom ceiling echoed raindrops.

It’s also been three weeks when he first met Yoon Jeonghan, a boy who _coincidentally_ moved in the same day as Joshua. Both of them go to the same school, study in the same year, and sit in the same row, so it’s no surprise that they’ve gotten close. Joshua sometimes wonders about the mysterious new boy, but brushed off that thought as soon as Jeonghan calls for him. Today he stops wondering.

 

“Ooh the leaves are falling,” Jeonghan gazed from his bedroom window.

“It’s just a normal autumn thing though?” Joshua says while lying on Jeonghan’s bed.

“Well…. we don’t have any seasonal changes in where I used to live.”

“Oh that makes sense, first time you’ve seen leaves fall?”

“Actually yeah,” Jeonghan grins, “c’mon let’s go outside, I can’t wait to crunch those leaves.”

They leave Jeonghan’s mini dorm room without anything except a coat or two. Surprisingly, Jeonghan wasn’t shivering while Joshua bundled himself up with a sweater and a coat. The long-haired boy took great delight in stepping on piles of leaves, prompting Joshua to join him as well. Joshua’s pretty sure that his mother could hear how loud they were in the park from his own house, but it’s not like he really cares much when he’s with Jeonghan. The two laid on the grass gazing at the clouds when Jeonghan suddenly speaks.

“Joshuji.”

“Hmm?”

“We gotta go to the bookstore.”

“Why?”

“Do we need a reason?”

“Well I guess not,” Joshua stood up as he brushed the leaves on his coat, “let’s go.”

After a brisk walk, the two reached the local bookstore, and Jeonghan sat on the bench across with a huff.

“I thought you wanted to go to the bookstore?”

“I didn’t say I’m gonna go _in_ the bookstore though,” Jeonghan replies coyly, “ooh there’s a cat here.”

Joshua squints and sees a shaggy black cat stumbling over some books on display, probably because of its curiosity, then dashing out of the bookstore when the cashier stood up to chase it out. Jeonghan squealed as he went to pet the escaped kitty while it looks at him in confusion.

“Hey Hannie leave the poor cat alone,” Joshua chides while staring at its yellow eyes.

“Nah, it’s gonna die soon.”

“Yeah right- wait what.”

Jeonghan petted the cat and repeated matter-of-factly, “it’s gonne die, and pretty damn soon too. So pet the kitty before you regret it.”

Joshua begrudgingly pets the hairy kitty and strokes its fur, “how am I supposed to believe that you can see the death of this cat we just saw.”

“You’ll see,” and Jeonghan has that knowing smirk that he uses more and more nowadays.

Joshua feels something weird about the cat, just like how he feels something weird about the town he moved in. Before his gut tries to say something, the black cat jolted from the passing ambulance and ran across the road. Joshua doesn’t remember when he discarded the fact that the cat will die, but he still felt a sense of shock and melancholy when he sees the cat crushed by a following police car. Its fatal accident is gruesome enough to rule as a death, even without Jeonghan’s weirdly accurate prediction. Joshua decides to ask.

“How do you know this.”

“Know what? This town? You? The cat? You gotta be specific Shua,” Jeonghan says as if a brutal death didn’t just happen in front of his eyes.

“Know the cat’s death!” Joshua yells out of frustration then continues quietly, “you’re not some grim reaper are you?”

“Well..” Jeonghan pauses for a while, “I kinda am. I’m the angel of death except I’m currently in training.”

Before Joshua can say anything, Jeonghan interrupts.

“Okay listen, I can’t kill or curse you if that’s what you’re thinking about. I only know when living things die, and I sure as hell won’t tell you when you’ll die because that’ll be the biggest fuck up of my internship.”

“Your….. _what_.”

Jeonghan softens, “it’s pretty confusing isn’t it? Do you wanna go home to take a breather?”

Joshua can only nod, and their walk home was silent until they reached Joshua’s flat.

“…Do you still want me to explain everything though?” Jeonghan offers.

“Please. Please do.”

“Alright, see you tomorrow at school then.”

Joshua blinks once, and Jeonghan is gone.

 

His parents ask him how he’s doing, and Joshua says he’s fine even though he feels nauseous. He wants to do nothing other than bury himself in his bed and let time pass. As if he didn’t just see a black cat die. As if Jeonghan wasn’t some supernatural being. As if today didn’t exist. He doesn’t know how much time passed, but he sees it’s dark outside and raining hard when he regains enough strength to look up. Great, he’s going to feel even more shit now. 

A loud tap on the window shakes Joshua as he glances around his room. Before he can move, the window starts making more scratching and tapping noises and Joshua is beyond terrified at this point. After pleading to some unknown deity that he won’t die after a rough day, he quickly opens the curtains with his eyes shut.

He’s greeted with a quiet meow.

Joshua peeks and sees the same black cat soaked by the rain outside; he swears it’s the same shaggy cat that got hit by a car this afternoon.

“What’re you doing out there all alone,” Joshua mumbles as he lifts his window open and gestures the cat to enter when it stares questionably at him.

He goes to grab a towel in his closet and dries up the cat. He also checks for signs of any injury on the cat, but he finds none. Joshua doesn’t want to believe that it’s the same cat, but the glittering eyes and the droopy fur says otherwise.

“I guess I’ll let you stay here, it’s really wet outside. Cats don’t like wet areas do they?” Joshua wonders aloud then turns to look at the confused kitty, “God, I’m really talking to myself. Or a cat. I don’t know. I’m gonna go to sleep.”

He goes to turn off the lights and crawls into his bed. The cat still sits on the carpet in the middle of his room staring at him. Joshua grumbles and makes a _tsk tsk_ noise to call for the cat. It follows after his voice, and Joshua has no trouble lifting it up. He places the kitty on the window and gestures to the giant tree nearby. To his surprise, the rain already stopped.

“You can go now. I’ll probably snore anyway,” he says then goes back to bed.

As he tucks himself in he feels something soft and heavy dipping his bedside. Joshua supposes a comfy bed is better than a dewy forest for a cat then drifts off to sleep.

* * *

 

By the time he wakes up, the kitty is gone. Joshua shrugs it off and proceeds to go prepare himself for school. He brushes his teeth, tucks in his uniform shirt, and grabs a bite of his breakfast while trying not to think that Jeonghan is _technically_ a grim reaper. An angel of death is a grim reaper right? Does that mean grim reapers are angels? He really shouldn’t have skipped religious studies back in California.

He doesn’t forget to bring his backpack and heads out to see Jeonghan already standing by the porch. Joshua huffs when Jeonghan greets with a playful grin and stumbles down the stairs.

“Wow, you weren’t kidding when you said that you wanted to know everything,” Jeonghan whistles, “you’re never this fast when you prepare for school.”

“Are you keeping a record of my arrivals or something?”

“I didn’t say I _kept_ a record though.”

“And you’re dressed in all black today too.”

“Why thank you Shua, it helps with my role.” Joshua couldn’t tell if Jeonghan was being serious or not.

Their walk to school was quiet, excluding the fact that Jeonghan was happily humming and Joshua was too jittery to say much. Until Jeonghan interrupts their flow.

“Oh right, about the explanations, I’ll explain everything during lunch.”

“As in _every single thing_?” Joshua stares at him.

“Yeah, and you look frazzled right now so I’m giving you a special opportunity to shoot one question, go ahead.”

“Just one?”

“Time’s ticking Joshuji,” Jeonghan says as he mimicks checking his imaginary watch on his wrist.

Joshua breathes nervously, “I-I saw the exact same cat that died on the road last night, and it came in my room.”

Jeonghan stares at him as if he’s a fool. Joshua feels sort of dumb too, but that’s the vibe Jeonghan gives most of the time, especially now that he’s the all-knowing angel of death.

“Haven’t you learned that cats have nine lives? That’s one of the few supernatural things you mortals know about,” he wheezed.

_Oh_. Well that explains it at least, Joshua muses.

“I thought it was, you know, a myth. We create a lot of those.”

“Not this one at least, it’s a fact. It’s a cute myth though, if I have to say it in your mortal terms,” Jeonghan comments like he’s talking about his obsession with cartoonish socks, and Joshua is slightly chilled by that.

“Do you even know, um, what life stage cats are on? Since you know stuff about death and-”

“Yeah we angels know that,” Jeonghan interrupts, “ _and_ that’s exceeding the question limit. Just kidding, I’m letting that slide.”

Joshua doesn’t know what to do with his cheeky friend who apparently knows a lot about the paranormal, but he’s glad that it’s Jeonghan who’s explaining all of it to him.

 

They had half an hour to spare when they arrived at school. Joshua dropped his bag on his desk, heaving a huge sigh.

“What’s gotten to you Joshua? You look tired,” the class president, Seungcheol asks him.

“Oh it’s nothing much,” he reassures, “I don’t know if it’s the stairs or the books, but you should ask the school board to install escalators here Seungcheol.”

“I’ll think about it,” Seungcheol laughs and goes to greet other students entering the classroom.

Jeonghan glances questionably at his backpack, and Joshua has to take out his textbook anyway. The latter unzips his bag…

..only to have the same black furball from last night pounce on his face and blocking his view. 

“What. The _Fuck_ ,” Jeonghan mutters.

 

“I swear this cat follows you everywhere,” the angel says as he and Joshua enter the cafeteria.

“I mean, meeting the angel death is probably a sign of bad luck,” Joshua says then retracts, “oh shit that sounded bad.”

“I’ve said worse,” Jeonghan brushes it off as they queue up for food.

The noisy meow from the cat didn’t make the statement any better.

“ _Right_ ,” Joshua deadpans as his tray is filled with some soup and kimchi.

It ended up with them shuffling along awkwardly until Jeonghan picks out his banana milk. Their usual spot was quiet and unoccupied as well, perfect for ruining every scientific theory that Joshua has learnt since he went to school.

“Okay, where do you want me to start,” Jeonghan pokes a straw into his milk box and starts sipping.

“I guess.. why you’re here? Especially you arrived here at the same time as me.”

“You see,” Jeonghan takes the time to feed the cat his small sausage on his tray, “in Heaven, that exists, we angels have separate categories. Or jobs. Whatever you like to call those. I’m assigned to be the angel of death, but in order to ensure none of us fuck up and ruin the life cycle of various living things, we have to train. Sort of like how you mortals have internships for your education or future job. I don’t know how that works on your side to be honest.”

“Do you guys have like colleges or something? The afterlife seems like it’s, uh not as fun,” Joshua asks as he gently strokes the kitty, who generously leans into his hand.

Jeonghan laughs loudly for a second then goes back to his serious composure, “no. But I can explain why I came the same time as you though.”

“I’m all ears.”

“You’re a witch Joshua; Heaven sent me because they’re afraid that there’s gonna be something weird happening here. But I also have to drop the news to you too because no one else will.”

Joshua blinks.

He stops scratching the cat. (It meows in protest.)

“I’m really enjoying the last 24 hours on Purgatory because of your reactions, you know.”

“Isn’t the correct term wizard?”

Jeonghan guffaws, “what? No, that’s for ugly mortal nerds. Hey, I’m saying it right, _right_?”

“Uhhh yeah,” Joshua affirms nervously, “so gender is fake.”

“You can say that,” Jeonghan shrugs, “I’ve heard that back then it’s only exclusively for feminine mortals, but it seems like witchcraft is getting stronger over time. Ah, that’s probably why I’m sent down here.”

“So do I have to like.. make potions, ride on broomsticks, and have this cat as my sidekick?”

“Maybe, no, and technically yes,” Jeonghan answers consecutively, “potions depend on your interest. I heard there’s a place around here that teaches you how to make those. No, broomsticks are myths. You either find some way to float or don’t. And I’ve seen that cat getting attached to you. You’ve gotten that strange feeling around it right?”

“Actually.. yeah,” Joshua admits, “I’ve sensed something different in this town, and something even weirder in this cat.”

“That means it wants to be your familiar Shua!” Jeonghan exclaims in excitement, “oh wait you don’t know what’s that.”

“I kinda do..? It’s like an animal that’s your sidekick right.”

“Shua, it’s not just a sidekick. It’s your soulmate, your expanding source of energy, and y-“

The dreadful bell cuts off before Jeonghan can say more.

“Well you get the idea,” he says as he successfully throws his milk box into a trash can that’s five meters away, “so expect it to follow you everywhere. Just bear with it a while, I’ll explain more.”

Joshua pouts, and Jeonghan huffs.

“Get to class nerd,” the latter says as he picks up his tray.

“I didn’t finish this chicken leg though…”

* * *

 

Joshua’s not the type of person to go home right after school, so he’s not worried about his parents being suspicious about his whereabouts when he skids into the woods with Jeonghan. The black cat is now snoozing on Joshua’s shoulders in carefree fashion. They arrived to a clearing where sunlight shines through the tall tree branches.

“Remember the stuff I said about your familiar?” Jeonghan asks.

“Enough to get by I guess.”

“Well I hope so, I wanna see what your powers are today right off the bat.”

“Oh…kay? I didn’t know that angels of death are supposed to train witches.”

“Well there’s plenty of aid in this area actually, but I’m the last resort because I’m stationed right by your house.”

“I hope that doesn’t mean you’ve been stalking me.”

Jeonghan snorts, “I don’t even have time for that. Plus I’m not a terrible angel.”

Joshua doesn’t know he buys it or not, especially when he was at Jeonghan’s “house” last weekend.

The angel interrupts his thoughts. “Let’s start with this: what made you feel something different in this area?”

Joshua ponders for a while. He tries hard to trace back the origin of this unfamiliar feeling. The enigma that’s been clouding over him since he’s settled here. The atmosphere that never felt quite right. The thick mood that forces him to bottle up whenever he’s around his parents. The way he correctly finishes his statement before he looks out of the bedroom window for confirmation. He really can’t quite believe it either.

“Weather?” He says quietly.

“That’s a broad category, but I guess it’s a good start.” Jeonghan hums, “can you try something out? Like a spell or an enchantment.”

“I have no idea how to do any of the following Hannie.”

“So like for instance, _O great clouds please rain now_ , or something like that.”

Joshua stares at him icredulously, in fact he’s probably been staring at the angel in disbelief way too many times for the past twenty-four hours.

“Just try it!” Jeonghan says indignantly, “you never know!”

Joshua stares at the clouds and sunshine above. The sky is crisp and clear, but his gut says that there’ll be a small shower this evening. An unpredictable weather today.

“Alright I’ll do my best, no guarantees though,” Joshua reminds him and folds his hands together, “erm so… clouds, it would be great if you rained now. Anything works, thanks.”

The angel judges him underneath the shade of a particularly tall tree.

“Shua, that was _so-“_ before he could say anything more, he was interrupted by a large clap of thunder following a sudden downpour, “….. lame.”

The boy was too stunned to say anything, despite his uniform getting plastered all over his body and his conscience telling him that he’s going to get scolded by his mother later.

“Also where’s the cat,” Jeonghan asks as he holds an umbrella that suddenly materialized.

“I’m here,” a different voice answers, quietly.

“Oh God I’m sorry I forgot about you,” Joshua blurts out while searching for the voice.

“Be thankful that I didn’t scratch your face,” the feline hopped on Joshua’s shoulder.

“Holy shit Shua, you pissed off your familiar.”

Joshua takes a good look at the cat in fear, and the cat stares back at him until it suddenly bursts out giggling. Jeonghan probably has never felt more betrayed until this moment.

“Your expressions were funny,” the kitty explains pats Joshua’s side profile gently, “my name’s Jun. Or Wen Junhui. That’s my former name. I’m a boy.”

“Former name?” Joshua asks.

“Oh, we familiars have experienced a mortal life before uh, being like this. I’m lucky to have nine lives,” Jun smiles proudly.  
“You literally got hit by a car two days ago you fool,” Jeonghan mutters.

“I’ll pretend that never happened,” Jun says a little too quickly and hides behind Joshua.

The boy is relieved that there’s some _being_ that’s even more awkward than him at least.

“How come you’re talking now?” Joshua prods the cat behind him with his finger.

“As soon as you start using magic, I can talk to you,” Jun explains, “it’s easier for witches who’s used magic before though.”

“And if you plan to follow me, please try not to get me kicked out of my class please.” Joshua pleads.

Jun perks up, “I didn’t think schools nowadays have something against cats.”

“Actually it’s the entire animal kingdom, not just cats.”

Jun pouts as much as he can in his feline form and lies down on Joshua’s lap. Joshua thinks he hears the familiar muttering something along the words of “catphobia”.

“It’s ailurophobia you small creature,” Jeonghan yells behind a large mossy rock, “also Joshuji can you make it stop raining, it’s gonna flood at this rate.”

* * *

 

Surprisingly after learning that he’s a witch, Joshua lives normally like he did before his knowledge of angels, familiars, and mythbusted paranormal theories. If not, he lived much more comfortably than before. He knows the reasons behind his sudden mood changes most of the time, and he has Jun to accompany (or annoy) him every hour. Joshua must’ve underestimated the cat’s annoying factor because _boy_ does it talk. The cat comments on Joshua’s lamp, his spacious bag, his “fluffy” brown hair, and every other mundane object nearby. Talking cats is still a weird concept to Joshua, but the boy mind it though, especially when they got closer over time. Unfortunately his parents come up to check in Joshua’s room after Jun screeches when he gets frustrated by Joshua’s laser pointer. Fortunately, Jun’s voice isn’t heard by “normal” people like Joshua’s parents, so his screech sounds more like a cat falling off a tree.

“There’s been a lot more cats around here lately,” Joshua’s father says at one point, “that’s strange.”

“Yeah,” Joshua casually piles his clothes in the laundry bin where Jun hid in, “it’s very strange.”

(Later Jun complains that his clothes stink, and Joshua threatens to pull out his laser pointer again.)

 

“Hey Jun.” The cat looks up from his water bowl in response.

“How do you know you’re like.. my familiar,” Joshua asks sleepily, ready to fall un asleep.

“Hm,” Jun hops on Joshua’s bed with no problem and lays next to the boy, “it’s something we familiars know? Kind of like love at first sight. You see the witch, and you immediately know that they’re supposed to be your partner.”

“That’s kind of a bad analogy, but I’ll accept that.”

“It’s literally like that!” Jun puffs his cheeks in protest, “talking with humans is so tiring.”

“You say that when I feed you and take care of your fur shedding. I’m already thinking of getting you a furcut,” Joshua mumbles while scratching Jun’s ear.

Jun’s laugh tinkles in, “thanks for taking care of me anyway.”

“Mmhm,” the boy hums smugly before drifting off to sleep in the warm autumn night.

* * *

 

One day when Jeonghan’s busy fulfilling his angelic duties after school, Joshua decides to sit in the far corner of the school bleachers with Jun. As studious as he wants to be, there is no way that he can finish a single page of homework when Jun is out there wreaking havoc on the sports field (which includes trying to pluck feathers out of birds and scaring critters).

“Hey leave them alone,” Joshua speaks softly as he scoops up Jun into his arms.

“But it’s _so_ much fun, you don’t know how it’s like because you’re not a cat,” Jun pouts.

“And I thought I was going to get some work done here…”  
“You sound really gloomy over some work; it’s not even due until next week.”

“Well _someone’s_ been listening in classes,” Joshua smiles, “unlike your second day of school.”

“It’s not my fault that the home economics class has really delicious food,” Jun stretches sheepishly and curls up.

“Excuse me, can I talk to you for a second.”

Joshua freezes and turns to see another boy in his school’s uniform. His blond hair and long lashes shows that he’s at least a Caucasian, but the squirrel on his head gives a more enchanting vibe.

“You’re Hong Jisoo right? Or Hong Joshua, the school’s records are weird,” the boy asks.

“Y-Yeah, and you?”

“I’m Chwe Hansol and- wait don’t worry I’m also a witch too.”

Joshua released a sigh of relief while Jun pounces out of his lap.

“Junhui! How are you doing?” Hansol grins as he bends down to pet the feline.

“I finally found a witch Hansol! It’s not long, but it’s fun being with him.”

Hansol hands a small piece of watermelon for the cat to chow on and sat beside Joshua.

“So.. I’ve been sent to find a new American witch in this town, and I’m guessing you’ve recently moved here right?”

Joshua nods, “I think it’s been around 3 months already.”

“Ah that’s nice, what kind of witch are you? I’m curious.”

“Well have you heard about the sudden downpour last week?”

Hansol’s eyes widen, “wait _you_ made that happen? That’s such a strong power; you’d be considered a very powerful witch if you master it.”

Joshua rubs his neck shyly, “I don’t know how all of this.. works though. It’s still new to me.”

Hansol gave a nod of understanding, and Jun pats on Hansol’s face.

“Hansol, Hansol, Hansol. I wanna be human soon.”

Joshua raises one of his brows; Jun never talked about being human. Hansol must’ve sensed his confusion since he immediately started explaining.

“Familiars can turn human when they finally connect to their witches,” Hansol rattles off, “because the witch’s energy is also shared with them too.”

“Oh I was going to ask another question actually,” Joshua points at the squirrel on Hansol’s head, “are witches able to speak with animals?”

“Nah, unless you’re talking to shapeshifters, it’s unlikely you’re able to speak to animals. Witches normally are able to talk to other familiars when the familiar is in human form.”

Well, that raised more questions for Joshua. First, shapeshifters exist. Second, that explains why Jun wants to be human. Third, how is Hansol talking to Jun then.

“I’m a healing based animal witch though,” Hansol quickly adds and pats the squirrel on his head, “that’s why I can talk to Jun and this buddy up on my head.”

Jun puffs out his cheeks, “do you know anyone that can help me turn human for a while? Joshua still sucks at magic.”

“I can hear you Jun.”

Hansol laughs, “yeah, that’s another reason why I came here. I’m going to take you guys to another witch who’ll help you in enchanting Jun to change form.”

Joshua furrowed his brows, “another witch?”

“I’m not good at this type of magic, plus this guy’s my best friend. You can trust him since he’s also close to Jeonghan the angel as well,” Hansol shrugs, “so you guys wanna go?”

 

Joshua arrives at a cottage that he’s never noticed near the river. Despite living in a small town, he still doesn’t explore much. He also feels Jun in his arms buzzing in excitement; the kitty doesn’t hide much about his desire to look and feel human again. Hansol ducks under the low straw roof at the entrance of the cottage and lifts the door knocker. Before it makes any sound, the door opens to reveal a young boy with dark hair.

“Hi there! You’re looking for Seungkwan right?” He greets.

“Yup, you know where’s Kwan?”

“I think he’s at the backyard; he’s sealed himself in so I won’t come distract him though.”

“Alright thanks Chan,” Hansol enters the building and gestures the rest to enter.

Joshua and Jun nod slightly to greet Chan and briskly follow Hansol in the cottage. Inside the small building, the area is incredibly spacious although a bit messy. Chan returned to a coffee table to whisk some empty vials away as the trio walked to a door near a crackling fireplace.

“SEUNGKWAN! I BROUGHT HIM!” Hansol yells as much as his throat allows and the door emits some yellow smoke.

“COME IN!” Joshua can hear the voice behind the door and twisted the doorknob.

The backyard is mostly empty, contrary to what Joshua predicted it to be like, and a strawberry blond boy ran to give Hansol a big hug.

“What took you so long? God! I was thinking you were going to be lost or something,” Seungkwan fusses as he smooths Hansol’s messy hair, “let’s get down to business though.”

Seungkwan pats on a tree stump, gesturing for Joshua to sit. The latter held Jun closely as he took a seat while Hansol was off to distract himself with butterflies nearby.

“So…. Hong Jisoo am I right?” Seungkwan sits on a spare chair, looking at Joshua in the eye.

“Technically that’s my Korean name, but I’m more used to being called Joshua.”

“I see, and your familiar’s name is?”

Joshua realises Seungkwan probably can’t hear Jun in his cat form and quickly responds.

“Alright, Joshua and Jun. I’ll be frank and say that getting your familiar to turn human isn’t that easy during the first time unless they really want to be human.”

“Oh it’s totally fine, Jun really wants to be human, right Jun?”

The kitty nods, focused on Seungkwan.

“Oh! Then that makes it a lot easier! Chan was insisting that he doesn’t need to be human, but it worked out later in the end,” Seungkwan says as he pulls out a vial of purplish liquid, “by the way, that boy in my house is my familiar.”

Joshua glances at the open doorway to see Chan waving and going back to whatever chore he’s doing in the house. Seungkwan hands the vial to Jun, who shook the container curiously.

“The potion master in this town made this to create a faster process, but judging that your familiar really wants to be human, it’ll probably happen instantly.” Seungkwan explains, “all you have to do is focus on spreading your powers to Jun, like you’re sharing your castella with your best friend, while your familiar drinks all of the potion.”

“How long is he going to be human?” Joshua asks.

“Oh, it depends honestly. The potion helps familiars to transition their form rather than keeping its human form for a period of time,” Seungkwan shrugs.

“Okay let’s do it then,” Jun says as he starts to uncork the vial.

“If you say so..” Joshua pats the cat, “you’re really in a hurry huh.”

Jun can only nod, and Joshua focuses on clouds again. He asks for the skies to share some of its powers to Jun and feels his hands seeping with energy into Jun’s fur. His eyes fluttered shut as Jun chugs down the potion, and his mind went blank. He hears himself muttering some words he can’t decipher, and light emits in where Jun was.

“Hello?”

Joshua opens his eyes to see a lanky boy with hair trailing on his neck. His golden skin contrasts the grass below.

“Can I have some clothes please,” the boy yawns as he curls up and sees Joshua, “hey Shua, it’s me. Junhui.”

* * *

 

Thankfully, Chan prepared large clothes for Junhui which fitted him snugly in the cool weather. The boy was taller than Joshua with an unfairly handsome face; Joshua had to admit. Junhui thanked Seungkwan, Hansol, and Chan way too many times to count before Joshua chides him that it’s almost dark and they have to go home. Seungkwan and Hansol sent them off, telling the duo to follow the river to reach Joshua’s house. As they walked by the river, Junhui clung onto Joshua most of the time despite being able to walk properly.

“Are you cold?” Joshua asks with concern as he unwraps his scarf.

“Nope, I just miss being a cat,” Junhui responds as he wraps his arms around Joshua’s neck.

“Didn’t you just say you wanted to be human though?”

“Well yeah, but you’re warm Shua.”

“I guess I can’t argue with that,” Joshua grins then frowns, “wait how do I explain you to my parents then.”

“Tell them I’m your boyfriend,” Junhui supplies lazily.

“I’m still in the closet Jun.”

“No you’re not, you’re walking outside with me right now.”

Joshua laughs at the familiar’s words then sighed, “I guess it’s the right time to tell them I’m not straight.”

Junhui gives a confused look, and Joshua can’t help but pat his face.

“We still have a long way to go anyway.”

* * *

 

Needless to say, Joshua was nervous when he reached his house, but he decided to suck it up and announce his arrival with his so-called “boyfriend”.

“Mom, dad, I’m home,” he says while pulling Junhui to the entrance.

Joshua’s mother walked out of the kitchen, “it’s quite late Joshua, and who’s this person?”

“Oh.. mom, he’s my boyfriend,” Joshua says halfheartedly, gritting his teeth in preparation for his mother’s reaction.

“Aw, why didn’t you say so before? I got a heart attack thinking it was some weirdo near the street,” Joshua’s mother ushers them in, “I’m proud that you’re being honest with me Joshua. You’ve grown so much!”

Junhui smiles proudly to Joshua as well, and the latter couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed. As soon as Junhui introduces himself as “Joshua’s classmate, Wen Junhui, and a transfer student from China”, they quietly escaped to Joshua’s room to avoid more questions. Joshua promises to leave the door open for his mother though.

“Aren’t you tired Shua?” Junhui asks as he plops on the bed with no shame.

“Yeah, but I gotta shower Jun,” Joshua replies as he shrugs off his sweater, “you should try showering too.”

The long-haired boy sniffs in dissatisfaction and sprawls within blankets.

“I don’t want toooo,” he whines, “can’t you come here and sleep?”

Joshua thinks for a while. At least he’s not going to school tomorrow, plus he’s tired as fuck too. He gives up and throws himself into the bed. Junhui wraps his arms around his waist and leans on his shoulder lazily.

“You don’t mind me being like this right?” Junhui asks quietly and Joshua plays with his hair.

“Yeah I don’t, as long as you’re getting your hair sorted tomorrow,” he hums.

Junhui laughs quietly before Joshua loses himself in deep slumber.


End file.
